calculate the number of atoms in a body centred cubic unit cell
calculate the number of atoms in a body centred cubic unit cell
Answer:
In a body-centered cubic (BCC) unit cell, there is one atom at each corner of the cube and one atom at the center of the cube. Therefore, the total number of atoms in a BCC unit cell is 2.
To see why, we can think about how the atoms are arranged in a BCC unit cell. Each corner atom is shared by 8 neighboring unit cells, so each corner atom contributes 1/8 of its volume to the unit cell. The central atom is not shared by any neighboring unit cells, so it contributes its full volume to the unit cell.
Thus, the total volume contributed by the atoms in a BCC unit cell is:
Volume = (8 corners) x (1/8 volume per corner atom) + (1 central atom)
= 1 corner atom + 1 central atom
So there are a total of 2 atoms in a BCC unit cell.